Intro
Haze on the block, I'm the smoke that don't clear
(Mazur)
Talkin' low but they hear me from here
Verse
Three a.m., ledger open, calculator glow
Cousin said I'm reachin', said the ceiling's too low
Same cousin callin' now, wanna borrow a stack
Funny how the doubt turns to "put me on, that's a fact"
Started off with folding chairs and a busted mic stand
Now the studio got carpet, everything's climate-planned
They said I'd fold up quiet like a lawn chair in rain
I turned the static into stackin', turned the pressure to a chain
Every no I banked it, kept it in a mental vault
Every closed door taught me how to pick a better fault
Walked through Fenwick Avenue when nobody knew my name
Now the corner store got my face up on the frame
Margins thin as paper but I'm thick with the plan
Book-keepin' at midnight with a torch in my hand
Burnin' every excuse that used to hold me back
Bottom line was red ink, now it's black on black
Hook
I'm burning down the bottom line, watch it turn to gold
Every doubt you handed me, I made it mine to hold
Told me I would fall off, told me I was through
Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew
Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew
Verse
Landlord knocked at seven, said the rent's overdue
Two weeks later same landlord askin' for a interview
Teachers said distracted, said I'd never see a stage
Now the stage light hotter than the anger from that age
Momma kept the porch light on for hopes I'd walk it right
I turned the doubt to diesel, drove it through the night
Every hater's whisper turned to background static noise
I'm the signal breakin' through it, static never poised
Bank account was skeleton, now it's growin' meat
Used to skip the dinner just to make the numbers meet
Now I'm splittin' plates with people who forgot my name
Karma got a memory, karma plays the long game
Bottom line was crumblin' like a wall of dry cement
I rebuilt it brick by brick with every doubt they sent
Foundation made of failure, that's the strongest kind
Burnin' every ceiling that they built up in my mind
Hook
I'm burning down the bottom line, watch it turn to gold
Every doubt you handed me, I made it mine to hold
Told me I would fall off, told me I was through
Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew
Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew
Bridge
Funny how the silence sounds like static now
Funny how the ones who left keep circlin' back around
I don't need the apology, I just need the proof
So I keep it running, keep it burning, keep it loose
Every scar's a ledger line that adds up in my favor
I ain't chasin' validation, I'm just settlin' the labor
Outro
Bottom line was ashes, now it's smoke that clears to sky
Told 'em watch me burn it, never once had to ask why
Burning down the bottom line, that's the only proof I keep
Turn the doubt to embers, let the legacy run deep
